Special dishes every year only a few months in Hai Phong

“Red jellyfish salad” is a dish originating from Hai Phong city, each year usually only appears in a fairly short period of time, from April to June of the solar calendar.

Before being served, jellyfish are soaked with parrots to give them a distinctive red color.

The substance from the bark and roots of the parrot tree, when secreted, will help the jellyfish not melt but become crunchy and especially create the attractive red color of the jellyfish. Then, jellyfish are layered in a small pot and soaked with lemon, sliced ​​kumquats so that the jellyfish has a light scent.

To be able to process jellyfish with Hai Phong flavor, when eating, the processor must use a small bamboo knife made from a cork tube to cut the jellyfish into pieces about 2 knuckles. The reason to use a bamboo knife to cut jellyfish is so that the jellyfish does not get fishy and still retains the taste of the jellyfish.

When eating, users will pack jellyfish with fried tofu, copra in perilla leaves, marjoram dipped in pure shrimp paste with lemon squeeze and foam to feel the full flavor of the dish. dish this. Jellyfish has no taste, but when eaten with other ingredients, the chewy, crunchy and succulent jellyfish bring a refreshing cool feeling, especially in the hot early summer days.

Because jellyfish do not have much of a taste, along with the accompanying ingredients, the dipping sauce is the key factor that creates the deliciousness of the dish. If in Hanoi, red jellyfish are dipped with shrimp paste to create a distinctive flavor, in Hai Phong, jellyfish are often used with vinegar. The basic ingredients of vinegar include rice wine, shaved vinegar, tomatoes … creating a sweet, slightly sour taste that makes the dish cooler and lighter when used with shrimp paste.

For young people who are members of the “bun dau fish sauce” association, it seems that Hanoi-style red jellyfish will be a challenge.

Although picky eaters, but red jellyfish salad is considered a dish that is easy to “remember”. In each red jellyfish season, the sidewalk restaurants in the center of Hanoi are crowded with people to enjoy.

Not only a snack, red jellyfish also has a high nutritional content, containing protein, sugar, fat, calcium, iron, iodine, B1, B2 …

Bao Chau (22 years old, in Cau Giay district, Hanoi) shared: “I saw many people recommend it so I wanted to try it. Although I don’t eat shrimp paste often, fortunately this dish is quite suitable for my taste, a dish worth experiencing in the summer.”

According to Vietnamnet